Gardens of Culture. Visions and experimental projects for a future (conference)
Veranstaltung | 17. + 18.11.2023
“It is in times of dissolution, of change, of reorganisation, of social and national rebirth, that the tendency to wander into the land of nowhere, which in Greek is called Utopia, is at its liveliest. ” (William Morris, 1890)
From 1918, after the horrors of the First World War, many people sought social reforms that would prevent wars from happening again. They drew up utopias and some philanthropists, most of whom were extremely financially strong, boldly and courageously set about implementing the models they developed in order to make humanity more peaceful. They created new and sheltered societies within society in remote areas and gardens with historic buildings, where they staged their ideas as beacons of humanity and democracy, sometimes at gigantic expense. They drew on the philosophical and educational concepts of Robert Owen, John Dewey and William Morris and the Eastern spirituality of the artist-philosopher Rabindranath Tagore. They started out free from state funding and therefore also free from censorship. Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst’s Dartington Hall and Raymond Duncan’s projects in Albania and Paris are historical examples of this.After 2022, the time after the outbreak of the Ukraine war and the associated global crisis awareness, these projects themselves no longer exist in their original forms, but their far-reaching effects and comparable ideas are unfolding anew in surprisingly similar remote locations, for example the Performing Arts Forum in St. Erme between Reims and Paris in France and O Espaço do Tempo in Montemor-o-Novo in southern Portugal.
All of the sites have already had cultural and historical significance and are located in former fortresses or monastery walls on extensive natural sites. The conference deals with these currently overlooked “Gardens of Culture”, which are barely present in the current narrative, between hope and failure, failure and hope.
KOÏNZI-DANCE e.V. asks for a donation for participation: online 30 EUR / present in the Warburg Haus 40 EUR + 9 EUR cinema visit
Booking: karten@koinzi.de
17 / 18 Nov 2023 Conference at Warburg Haus,
Heilwigstraße 116, Hamburg
Gardens of Culture Visions and experimental projects for a future https://www.warburg-haus.de/events/Gardens of Culture